Do you come among the 7 out of 10 French people who sleep badly or too little? If the answer is yes, maybe you feel regularly irritated, tired, out of phase … But did you know that the lack of sleep could also have a direct effect on your waist and abdominal fat?
A bad night, and your hormonal balance is racing
“When sleep is of poor quality, too short or disturbed, it is all the hormonal and energetic balance of our organism which undergoes the consequences, with a particular impact on the storage of fats, especially at the abdominal level” Indicates Julie Boët, dietician-nutritionist.
On the hormonal level, the lack of sleep disturbs several key regulations. First, it modifies the hormones of appetite: with an increase in the Ghrelin, which stimulates hunger, and a decrease in leptin, which signals satiety. Result, fatigue will often stimulate appetite “Especially for foods rich in sugar and fats, because the brain is looking for a rapid source of energy to compensate for the rest deficit. ” This is why you will also rush on a fatty food comforting the next day … “These food choices then promote excess caloric and storage”.
Cortisol, stress hormone is also part
Cortisol, stress hormone, is also directly involved. “”In a situation of lack of sleep, its rate remains high longer during the day. However, cortisol has a hyperglycemic effect: it stimulates the release of glucose in the blood in order to bring energy available quickly, as if the organism had to face a permanent danger “. But if this glucose is not used (for example by physical activity), the excess is stored, mainly in the form of fat.
“”The abdominal area is particularly sensitive to this action, because it has more glucocorticoid receptors (the hormone family to which cortisol belongs). It is for this reason that chronic stress and lack of sleep lead to a preferential accumulation of visceral fats, that is to say around the organs, and not only under the skin “.
Added to this is a disruption of insulin sensitivity. The lack of sleep reduces the body’s ability to properly manage the sugar brought by the food. “”Cells become less sensitive to insulin, which obliges the pancreas to secrete more to maintain stable blood sugar. This hyperinsulinemia in turn promotes fat storage, again at the abdominal level “.
When to live offbeat also promotes poor food choices
Evening eating habits also play a significant role, underlines the nutritionist. “A meal too rich in saturated fats, fast sugars or alcohol before bedtime can disrupt the quality of sleep, weigh down digestion and accentuate hormonal imbalances. In addition, if the body is busy digesting heavy or very sweet meals during the night, it does not fully benefit from the processes of cellular and metabolic regeneration which should take place during deep sleep” warns the expert.
This is called a vicious circle: bad sleep, hormonal disruption, abdominal storage, and increased fatigue the next day which pushes to seek energy and comforting foods again.
And the screens do not help
Finally, other factors reinforce this link between sleep and abdominal fat. The light of the screens before bed, for example, disturbs the production of melatonin, the hormone that prepares the body to sleep, delaying falling asleep and reducing the duration of the repairing deep sleep. Lack of physical activity or too much sedentary lifestyle in the day also accentuate stress sensitivity and sleep disorders, creating an environment conducive to abdominal storage.
The thickening waist tour, a physical detail not to be overlooked
What does the links mentioned, you prefer to keep this little buoy, what to change your habits? The expert assures him: it is a wrong, which could harm you faster than you think and not only on the silhouette side. Abdominal fat, especially visceral fat, is not trivial for health. “”It is metabolically active and secretes inflammatory substances that increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome “. This is why we can never say it enough about True Medical: the quality of sleep must be considered as a pillar of prevention, in the same way as food and physical activity.